Training for Strength

By Dean Grimshawe

I have been speaking with a lot of dedicated gym goers recently who have all had problems understanding a very basic concept. As a result I have decided to put pen to paper (or should I say fingers to keys) and arrange this article. Now before I go any further I would just like to say that the techniques you use while training are not wrong or right per se. Techniques are designed to help you hit specific goals. Logically thinking we would take some time and consider the best technique we have to hit the desired outcome, however most athletes only understand the same way to train, which is how everyone else trains, and mindlessly follows that activity. This is not necessarily the best path for you.

The method that most people follow is ‘bodybuilding’. The reason for this is simply that it is the most widely talked about and documented form of weightlifting. Most magazines and books are aimed at building mass and chiseling a six-pack. So what is wrong with this? Absolutely nothing if you want to be a bodybuilder and absolutely everything if you don’t. Bodybuilding techniques are designed to simply make the muscle grow, and then once the mass is there you shape it until you get the desired effect. Then you get your fake tan on, pop into a thong and hit the stage. In theory this also works if you are planning on just developing a physique for vanity reasons or self-esteem so you can feel good at the local pool or down at the beach. Bodybuilding methods do work for the above goals, so before I go any further what techniques am I referring to. Traditionally I’m talking about the 3-4 sets in the 8-10 rep range where you ideally fail on the 8th rep of the last set. This process is designed to cause micro-tears in the muscle fibre which during the recovery phase (and with adequate nutrition), contributes to the fibres repairing stronger with greater density. This is known as hypertrophy.

In reference to strength, the training is totally different. The reason being is that strength is not dependent totally on the amount of muscle mass despite popular belief. In theory a bigger muscle may have a greater capacity for strength, though it doesn’t always equate in the results. The reason this occurs, is because strength is related more to the central nervous system than the muscle fibres. With this in mind shouldn’t we be training that? If your answer is yes, then read on, otherwise strength is clearly not important to you and the following material is irrelevant to your training. So how do we train the central nervous system? Well the simple answer is ‘volume’. The body gets good at what it is used to doing and the body when training for hypertrophy has to spend too much time resting to truly see the benefits to strength. While training for muscle mass the body spends most of its time recuperating, or failing, so the body is getting good at recovering from exercise and failing to lift the required amount.

Strength athletes train in a very different way. They never train to failure. They never allow their body to experience missing a rep, and ultimately their body never does fail to lift more and more. So how do they do this? Well an easy way to get started is to take your normal weight that you do 10 reps with and just do a set of 5. Then instead of doing 3-4 sets, do 5-10 sets. At the end of the workout you may still feel fresh and as if you haven’t really trained to your limit. That’s fine, as the ‘burn’ and the ‘pump’ is not required for this type of weightlifting. Also, you will be training like this for at least 5 days a week without resting for a few days between workouts. Let’s say that you used to do between 8-10 reps for 3-4 sets twice a week. That would equate to between 48-80 reps per week. Using the strength training model of 5 reps for 5-10 sets for 5 days a week, you would be completing between 125-250 reps a week of the same weight. Now bearing in mind your body gets good at what it is used to doing, can you see how the second method makes the body good at lifting weights?

Like any form of training, this system has to be constantly reviewed, with the weights being increased and cut back on a rotational basis to get the best results. Strength training is not necessarily better than bodybuilding, however if your main focus is on performance than maybe you really should consider this approach.

Dean Grimshawe is a Coach and founder of 'The Way of the Warrior'. Dean works mainly with clients looking to achieve health and fitness goals by working with the 'mind - muscle' connection in a way that is practical and easy to apply.

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